Couple Watching
by StarInHeaven1014
Summary: Troyella oneshot. A day of Christmas shopping in the mall reminds Gabriella of all of the moments she and Troy have had together.


**Okay dokey, so here I've got another oneshot. I hope you all like! Oh, and expect an update for 'Burgers, Brats, and Boomerangs' soon!**

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Tap tap tap…_

A red ballet flat, the top of the leathery surface sporting a silky bow, collided with the tile floor, echoing on the balcony. Its owner, a petite brunette, leaned against the railing, her soft brown curls falling over her shoulders as she tapped her foot patiently. Her chocolate brown eyes fell down below her on the assortment of shoppers, all heading off in different directions.

Gabriella leaned forward over the railing, looking below at stores hustling and bustling with shoppers, their bags close to them and their scarves pulled tightly around their necks. With a shudder, Gabriella pulled her cream colored pea coat firmer around her tiny frame.

Looking out the large, glass windows at the back of the shopping mall, Gabriella grinned as she saw white flurries falling from the moonlit sky. Christmas had always been her favorite holiday and, with the season shifting into gear, she always felt so warm inside. The brunette tugged on her fuzzy red ear muffs, her hands covered in red mittens. Looking her best in her dark washed, boot cut jeans, Gabriella shivered once more, looking behind her at the other group of shoppers, heading towards different stores on the second level.

A giggle interrupted her seasonal thoughts, and she turned swiftly to see a couple, possibly in their freshmen year of high school, flirting behind her. The girl, a blonde, hurried away from the red-headed boy, grinning wildly as he chased her down the second floor of the mall. Gabriella simply giggled when a security guard stopped them, shaking his finger at the pair.

_Couple watching…_Gabriella raised an eyebrow at the thought, but turned back once again and leaned over the railing, seeing many couples strolling along the first floor of the mall. She smiled, and watched them.

An older pair, maybe in their early twenties, was walking along the first floor. The girl, her hair a deep shade of red, was clutching to the boy's arm, her other hand gripping a bunch of shopping bags. Gabriella found them sophisticated yet adorably romantic…something she wanted in a relationship.

Gabriella smiled as the girl dragged the boy into a store, the girl laughing as he protested.

_Flashback._

_A cool summer breeze sent shivers down Gabriella's spine as she hugged her arms around her bare stomach. She hated bathing suits. She hated the beach. She hated summer._

_Okay, so the last two were a lie, but with the mood she was in it seemed like she hated everything._

_Including Troy._

"_Gabriella!" _

"_Oh, hi Chad," she grinned slightly at the bushy haired boy, before turning and unrolling her towel, shaking it as it spread out with the wind. "Why are you here?"_

"_Why shouldn't I be here? I mean, the beach…the wind in my hair…beautiful girls…" she saw his eyes scan over towards a group of freshman, all oohing and ahhing at one of the lifeguards. Gabriella rolled her eyes and turned back to her things. Taking out the umbrella, she suddenly felt it being pulled away from her._

"_Let me help you with that," Chad said, opening the umbrella with force and pounding it into the ground. _

"_Um, thanks," Gabriella looked down at the ground._

"_Hey, um…Troy told me about your fight last night…" Chad started._

"_It wasn't a fight, it was an argument," she corrected him._

"_Yeah, okay…but you guys are okay, right? I mean…its not like the end, is it?" Chad seemed genuinely worried, and Gabriella looked up at him with sad eyes._

"_No, of course not…I mean, all couples fight, right? I just need to let off some steam…and I'm gonna wait for him to apologize…" _

"_Oh, okay, good," Chad seemed to have brightened up nearly instantly. He grinned, waved and zipped out of her sight in no longer than a second. Gabriella just raised an eyebrow at him, and laid down on the beach towel, getting out a book and diving into its pages automatically._

_She had been reading for about five minutes when a voice interrupted her, "I thought I'd find you here."_

_Gabriella looked up, and simultaneously frowned, "Nice try Troy, but you obviously heard where I was from Chad. He's not that good at being discreet," she looked back down at the pages of her book._

_Troy sighed, but sat down beside her. When she didn't say anything, he began to speak, "I'm sorry about last night Gabi…I was a jerk. I shouldn't have brought up the topic and…I'm sorry."_

"_Okay, let's just get something straight," Gabriella's voice was full of force, "You actually said, to my face, that it was," she began to mimic him, "'hard for you to have all of those girls hanging around'…" she paused and took a deep breath. "So I've been thinking, maybe if its just sooooo hard, maybe you could get rid of one of them really easily…" she smirked as if to say 'I'd be glad to go'._

_Troy looked down at the sand, deep in thought, "Okay, so this is gonna sound super cheesy and probably stupid and you're gonna dump me right after, but I want you to know that this is the truth," he paused and looked up to see her staring at him, and he could sense a slight worry within her. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, "Gabriella, I'd rather argue with you than kiss someone else…I love you…"_

_There was a silence between them._

"_Gabi? You know that I just said that I loved you, ri-?" he was cut off by her lips, and her small body pressed up against his, her hands behind is head, and a grin inside of each of them._

_Pulling away, Gabriella smiled, "I love you too."_

_End Flashback._

Gabriella felt all warm inside for a moment as she thought of him: the way he looked, smelled, touched her…kissed her.

Another couple passed by on the floor beneath her. The small, light-haired girl was hugging the boy from the side, and the boy in turn, had his lips pressed to her head as he hugged her back.

_Flashback._

'_I'll never let go Jack, I'll never let go'. A tear slipped down Gabriella's cheek as she watched Jack slide into the icy depths of the ocean, leaving behind a freezing Rose. _

"_Oh, I love this movie," Gabriella reached forward and grabbed a box of Kleenex off of the coffee table, "Don't you?" she wiped a few stray tears away from her cheeks as she turned toward Troy, who was sitting still about a foot beside her on the couch._

_Troy just nodded, lifting his hand and twisting the red ruby basketball championship ring around his finger uncomfortably._

_Gabriella raised an eyebrow at him and paused the TV. "What's wrong with you? I mean, you're usually such a sap when it comes to gushy movies. I mean, you just loved The Notebook." She grinned at him and scrunched her face up. He was usually a sucker for that too._

_All he did was keep twisting the ring on his finger._

_Pouting slightly, Gabriella curled up beside Troy and placed her head on his chest. Simultaneously, she felt his strong arms engulf her and she could feel a soft peck on her head. She felt so safe in his arms…so protected…so loved. Now all she had to do was get him to tell her what was wrong. "I love you," the words escaped his lips for probably the hundredth time that day, and each time, Gabriella had felt all fuzzy and warm inside._

"_I love you too, Troy."_

_Something was obviously up with him. Other than the occasional 'I love you', Troy had been silent for most of the day and night. He seemed uncomfortable and nervous._

"_Okay, let's watch something kind of loud. I guess I'm in the mood for my ear drums to pop," she stood up and looked at Troy, who seemed to be staring off into space. She sighed and placed 'Pirates of the Caribbean' into the DVD drive, frowning to herself as she did so. But as she turned back to Troy, she grinned and resumed her spot on the couch._

_The movie progressed and the couple watched soundlessly from the couch. Gabriella soon found herself dozing off as she listened to Troy's steady breathing as his chest moved up and down, her head following the pattern as it was resting on top. The rhythm of his heart beating lulled her, and she soon found herself in a drowsy state, not wanting to be awoken._

_But something did stir her, and it only made her grin. It was a soft chuckle from the ever silent Troy, for Jack Sparrow had just had a spat about why the rum was gone. Grinning to herself, she lifted her arm and placed it around his waist, keeping her head on top of his chest and making sure his protective arms didn't stray from around her. _

_The movie kept going, and as she grew more and more tired, Gabriella adjusted her position slightly to be more comfortable-not that she wasn't at all already. But her wrist hit something hard bulging from Troy's pocket, and stealing a glance upward toward Troy, she moved her hands so they could feel the shape of the object. But Troy must have felt her movement, for her looked down at her, and feeling his gaze, she blushed and looked away. _

_Silence, other than the TV, once again filled the room, and the thought of the mysteriously shaped object never left Gabriella's mind. _

_Minutes later, Troy finally spoke, "You're still wondering what that is, aren't you?"_

_Gabriella could sense the grin on his face, and she looked up at him, hoping to catch the short smile before it disappeared. She found him with it still there, and grinning slightly, she gave him a wide-eyed look, "What are you talking about?" she couldn't hide the giggle that escaped her lips, so she continued, "Okay, yes, I am still wondering…so can you please tell me?" She batted her eyelashes._

_Troy couldn't hide his grin any longer, and the tiny smile soon spread from ear to ear. But then he froze, and looked away from her face looking up at him._

"_Troy?"_

"_Yeah, um," he slightly nudged her off of him and stood up from the couch._

"_Don't go," she rose to stop him._

"_I wasn't going anywhere," he turned to her and looked at the ground, shoving his hands into his pockets and rocking from foot to foot nervously._

"_What's wrong Troy? C'mon you've been acting stran-," she was cut off by him._

"_Gabi, I love you, you know that right?"_

_Gabriella was getting nervous herself now, but she nodded in response._

_His hands still hadn't left his pockets, and Gabriella noticed this, "I'm sorry I've been acting so weird tonight, and I know this is a stupid excuse, and it's not even the entire explanation, but Gabriella, when I'm around you, all I can think about is the fact that you are the only I feel like I need in my life, and I don't even know what I'm supposed to do to make you know that…you know, to know exactly how I feel. And the thing is, even if you do know how much you mean to me, I still don't think I'd be happy because I really want the world to know…and so…" he paused, his eyes fixated upon hers, and he could see the tears beginning to form through her grin. "Uh…I don't know what I'm supposed to say…" He realized he should've thought this out. He should've planned much farther ahead: the exact words he was going to say…how he was going to say it._

_And now he felt unprepared. Which made him feel stupid. And like a complete idiot._

_Gabriella seemed to read his thoughts. She stood up, and hugging her oversized sweatshirt close to her, she stepped across the shaggy rug, closer to him. "It's okay Troy…I get it."_

"_But Gabriella, that's the thing!" he took a step away, "I really need to show you that and," he took a deep breath and began, "You mean the world to me, and um…I guess I should just," he finally took his hands out of his pockets, bringing along with him a velvet box. He could hear Gabriella gasp._

"_No, its not an engagement ring, both you and I know seventeen is much to young for marriage…but…" He opened the velvet box to reveal a silver ring, a diamond heart in the center of the band. Carefully, he reached for her hand, and as she extended it, and as he saw the look of astonishment on her face, he grinned. _

"_It's a promise ring, Gabriella. It's a ring that promises that I will love you forever."_

_End flashback._

Smiling at the memory, Gabriella's right hand automatically flew to the silver ring on her ring finger. She felt the smoothness of the metal, the perfection of the diamond…and once again she was reminded of how expensive it must have been. But whenever she had asked Troy how much it cost all he did was grin and ignore the question.

Gabriella's eyes roamed around the large mall. She noticed families, groups of teenagers, elderly people. But something caught her eye. It was another couple, but there was something different. They were seeming to argue, their fingers pointing and their mouths opening wide. The girl imparticular seemed mad, her face stern and her eyes harsh. From her view, Gabriella found it rather sad that a couple, whose body language alone, although full of rage, made them seem so perfect for each other, was fighting. And Gabriella knew it must have been a serious topic or they wouldn't be arguing in a public place.

Gabriella's eyes never strayed from the couple, and minutes past as they kept firing a way at each other. However, at what seemed to be the tip of the iceberg- the girl's face had gotten much redder and her mouth was opening wider and wider-the boy grabbed the girl behind the neck and pulled her closer to him. Simultaneously he pressed his lips upon hers, and she gave in, wrapping her arms around him.

Gabriella couldn't help but smile.

Across the way she heard a bunch of giggles and 'Aws'. She looked across the balcony which circled the second floor of the mall, leaving a large gap in the middle to look down unto. Across from her was a group of three girls, each of them watching the couple who had just been fighting. Gabriella grinned as she realized they must have been doing the same thing she was-scouting for cute couples.

"Got the present for my mom," his voice interrupted her thoughts, as it often did. But the reward wasn't bad at all. She looked behind her to see Troy standing there, two bags in his arms.

"Ooh, what did ya get her?" she smiled wildly as he reached for her hand and interlaced his fingers with hers.

"Socks."

"You're kidding right?" Gabriella giggled, and began to walk with Troy down the concourse.

"Nope," he grinned and looked down at her, "But I got her a new watch too."

"Good," she smirked and began to keep walking. It felt so good to be in love, and as he brought their hands up to kiss the back of her hand, she felt all warm and fuzzy inside.

Like Christmas morning.

Like being in love.

On the other side of the balcony, three girls giggled an 'Awed' at the brunette girl and sandy haired boy from across the way.

One remarked, "Oh, that is definitely the cutest couple by far. It's love."


End file.
